India Basin, San Francisco

The parameters of India Basin are roughly the neighborhood surrounding Cargo Way, Third Street, Evans and Innes Avenues to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, from the top of the hill to the water.

The history of India Basin is a curious combination of industry and open space, business and pleasure. The name India Basin first appeared on a map in 1868, but theories as to its origin remain murky. The best guess is that India Basin is named for the ships from the India Rice Mill Company, which docked there in the 19th century. A more creative explanation has it that it was so named because water from nearby springs would stay fresh until a ship reached India.

The area has a strong community and many people are members of the India Basin Neighborhood Association (IBNA).

The India Basin Shoreline Park (India Basin) Natural Area is located adjacent to Hunters Point Boulevard in San Francisco, at the shore of San Francisco Bay. India Basin is the only Natural Area within the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (SFRPD) system that borders on San Francisco Bay. The natural area, located in the park’s southern section, comprises approximately 6.2 acres (25,000 m2) of the entire 11.8 acres (48,000 m2) park. Only the southern third of the entire park is considered a Natural Area.

As the only Natural Area adjacent to the Bay, India Basin has high unique natural resource and recreational values that include: recreational trail use on a segment of the Bay Trail; shoreline access to the Bay for fishing, kayaking and other water-dependent recreation; one of only a few tidal salt marsh wetlands in the City; suitable habitat for a variety of shore birds and foraging habitat for raptors; and views of the San Francisco Bay.

In 2016, the San Francisco Parks Alliance and Build Inc. sponsored a competition for a public 7.5-acre park on the India Basin Shoreline.[1]Seattle-based landscape architecture firm GGN (Gustafson Guthrie Nichol) won the competition, focusing their proposal on a softened shoreline and connections to the existing neighborhood.[2] With an emphasis on access, recreation, and habitat, the park is designed to "be an extension of the local culture and today’s patterns of living."[3]